Australians’ Video Viewing Habits Revealed

Despite extensive content choice and an ever-increasing array of devices, most Australians continue to watch broadcast TV – both free-to-air and subscription channels – on in-home TV sets, new research has revealed.

According to the latest Australian Video Viewing Report by OzTAM, Regional TAM and Nielsen, 19.64 million Australians watched broadcast TV on in-home TV sets each week between October and December 2017.

While 18 to 24-year-olds are relatively lighter viewers compared to other age groups, 63.1 per cent of this group watched broadcast TV weekly.

In total, Australians watched 74 hours and 58 minutes of broadcast TV each month in the latest quarter.

Even with the ease of playback and record in today’s technological society, 89 per cent of this was watched live-to-air, 8.8 per cent was played back within seven days, and 2.3 per cent was shifted between eight and 28 days of the original broadcast.

The report also found that Australians now spend one-third of their time with their TV sets on activities other than watching television.

As online viewing becomes easier, Australians played on average 347 million minutes of broadcasters’ online content on connected devices weekly late last year – a huge jump from 220 million minutes captured a year earlier.

The majority of this viewing was catch-up or on demand at 258 million minutes and the remaining 89 million minutes consisted of live viewing.

Overall, between one to two per cent of all broadcast TV content viewed each week is internet-delivered.

Australians over 18 now spend on average 21 hours and 36 minutes per month watching online video on a desktop, smartphone or tablet.

Twenty-five to 34-year-olds are the heaviest viewers on smartphones (12 hours and 31 minutes per month), while 18 to 24-year-olds watch the most video on desktops or laptops (11 hours and 59 minutes).

Across the adult population, Australians spend on average six hours and 11 minutes watching streamed video on tablets.

On a daily basis, Australians spend an average of two hours and 27 minutes watching live and playing back recorded TV content through their TV sets within 28 days.

This is only 43 fewer minutes per day compared to the end of 2010, even though viewing options have expanded in ways hardly imaginable seven years ago.

While broadcast TV watched on in-home TV sets still accounts for most video viewing, people are still embracing new content options and the ways of watching video.

Changes in Australians video viewing habits over the past seven years are illustrated in the graph below.

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